What size should an iOS app icon be?

1024 × 1024 pixels, square, as a PNG with no transparency. Since Xcode 14 that one image is enough for iPhone and iPad: Xcode makes the smaller sizes when it builds the app. Apple's guidelines list 1024 × 1024 as the layout size for iOS, iPadOS and macOS.

Why does App Store Connect say my app icon can't be transparent or contain an alpha channel?

The large iOS app icon must be fully opaque and saved without an alpha channel. Many design tools export RGBA PNGs even when nothing is see-through. This page writes iOS PNGs as plain RGB with no alpha channel and fills transparent parts with the colour you choose.

Which sizes does a macOS app icon need?

Ten images: 16, 32, 128, 256 and 512 points, each at @1x and @2x, so 16 to 1024 pixels. Xcode builds the .icns file from them. The 512 pt @2x image (1024 px) is also the App Store icon.

Do I need dark and tinted app icons?

No. If you leave them out, iOS 18 and later make dark and tinted versions from your icon. If you add your own, Apple asks for a dark icon with a transparent background and a tinted icon as a grayscale image. Both go in the same AppIcon set.

Should I use Icon Composer instead?

Icon Composer makes layered .icon files that give you control over Liquid Glass effects and every appearance. If you just need a working icon from a flat picture, or you also support older systems, an asset-catalog set like the one from this page still works. When a project has both, the latest Xcode uses the .icon file.

How do I add the generated icons to Xcode?

Unzip the download, open Assets.xcassets in Xcode, delete the old AppIcon and drag the AppIcon.appiconset folder in. Check that the target's App Icon setting is AppIcon. For a watch app, put the watchOS set in the watch target's asset catalog.

← All tools

Free tool for iOS and Mac developers

App icon generator for Xcode

Current Xcode needs only one 1024 × 1024 PNG for an iPhone and iPad app icon, with no transparency, plus optional dark and tinted versions. A Mac app still needs ten sizes from 16 to 1024 pixels. Drop your icon below, pick the platforms, and download a ready AppIcon.appiconset folder with every PNG and the Contents.json Xcode reads.

1. Your icon

Drop your app icon here

One square PNG, JPEG or WebP, ideally 1024 × 1024 px. It stays in this page and is never uploaded.

2. Platforms

iPhone and iPad

Single size (Xcode 14 and later)One 1024 × 1024 image; Xcode makes the smaller sizes. What new Xcode projects use.All sizes (older projects)17 files for iPhone, iPad and the App Store, for Xcode 13 or older and tools that expect every size.No iOS icon

Dark and tinted icons (optional, single size only)

Leave these empty and iOS makes its own dark and tinted versions from your icon. Apple asks for a dark icon with a transparent background and a tinted icon in grayscale.

Dark icon

Transparency kept so the system background shows through.

Tinted icon

Turned into grayscale; transparency kept.

macOS: 16, 32, 128, 256 and 512 pt at @1x and @2x (10 files)

Keep transparency in macOS iconsOff: macOS icons are filled with the background colour too.

watchOS: one 1024 × 1024 image, in its own set for the watch targetAlso add AppStore-Icon-1024.png (no alpha) at the top of the ZIP, for your website or press kit

Background for iOS and watchOSTransparent parts are filled with this colour, because iOS app icons cannot have an alpha channel.

Add your icon first.

What goes in the set

Checked against Apple's documentation and Xcode 27.1 on 2026-10-30.

• iOS and iPadOS, single size: 1024 × 1024 px, idiom universal, platform ios; optional Dark and Tinted slots.
• iOS and iPadOS, all sizes: iPhone 20, 29, 40 and 60 pt at @2x and @3x; iPad 20, 29 and 40 pt at @1x and @2x, 76 pt @2x and 83.5 pt @2x; App Store 1024 px.
• macOS: 16, 32, 128, 256 and 512 pt, each at @1x and @2x. 512 pt @2x (1024 px) is the App Store image.
• watchOS: one 1024 × 1024 px image, idiom universal, platform watchos.

Since 2025 Apple also offers layered icons made in Icon Composer (an .icon file) for iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS. This page makes the classic asset-catalog set from a flat picture, not .icon files.

How it works

•The picture is cropped to its centre square if needed, then drawn at each size in steps of halving, which keeps small sizes sharper than one big jump.
•iOS and watchOS PNGs are written by this page as 8-bit RGB with no alpha channel: transparent parts are filled with your background colour. App Store Connect rejects a large iOS app icon that is transparent or has an alpha channel.
•macOS PNGs keep transparency unless you turn that off. The optional dark iOS icon keeps its transparent background, as Apple asks, and the tinted one is turned into grayscale.
•Contents.json uses the same layout and keys as the files Xcode 27.1 writes (idiom, size, scale, platform, appearances, filename). Each combination was compiled with Apple's actool as a check, with no warnings.
•The ZIP holds AppIcon.appiconset for iOS and macOS, and a separate watchOS/AppIcon.appiconset, because a watch app has its own target and catalog.
•Nothing is uploaded: decoding, drawing, PNG writing and the ZIP all happen in your browser.

What it does not do

•It does not make layered Icon Composer (.icon) files, Liquid Glass layers or a clear appearance. It makes the classic asset-catalog set from a flat picture.
•It does not make tvOS or visionOS icons, which are layered image stacks, or iMessage and sticker icons.
•It does not design or round your icon. Give it full square artwork; the system applies the rounded or circular mask.
•Enlarging a small picture to 1024 px makes it soft. Start from a 1024 × 1024 export.
•Sizes and the JSON layout were checked against Apple's pages and Xcode 27.1 on 2026-10-30. Apple changes them now and then.

Questions

What size should an iOS app icon be?: 1024 × 1024 pixels, square, as a PNG with no transparency. Since Xcode 14 that one image is enough for iPhone and iPad: Xcode makes the smaller sizes when it builds the app. Apple's guidelines list 1024 × 1024 as the layout size for iOS, iPadOS and macOS.
Why does App Store Connect say my app icon can't be transparent or contain an alpha channel?: The large iOS app icon must be fully opaque and saved without an alpha channel. Many design tools export RGBA PNGs even when nothing is see-through. This page writes iOS PNGs as plain RGB with no alpha channel and fills transparent parts with the colour you choose.
Which sizes does a macOS app icon need?: Ten images: 16, 32, 128, 256 and 512 points, each at @1x and @2x, so 16 to 1024 pixels. Xcode builds the .icns file from them. The 512 pt @2x image (1024 px) is also the App Store icon.
Do I need dark and tinted app icons?: No. If you leave them out, iOS 18 and later make dark and tinted versions from your icon. If you add your own, Apple asks for a dark icon with a transparent background and a tinted icon as a grayscale image. Both go in the same AppIcon set.
Should I use Icon Composer instead?: Icon Composer makes layered .icon files that give you control over Liquid Glass effects and every appearance. If you just need a working icon from a flat picture, or you also support older systems, an asset-catalog set like the one from this page still works. When a project has both, the latest Xcode uses the .icon file.
How do I add the generated icons to Xcode?: Unzip the download, open Assets.xcassets in Xcode, delete the old AppIcon and drag the AppIcon.appiconset folder in. Check that the target's App Icon setting is AppIcon. For a watch app, put the watchOS set in the watch target's asset catalog.